Research project SE/D8/01 (Research action SE)
Relations between the individual and the public authorities have been upset. Several developments contribute to this disturbance: the evolution
of identity and self concepts, a different organisation of life, the importance of the mass media, an increasingly two-tiered social, economic, and
cultural structure. Consequently, the limits of the civil society are no longer clear today; in some areas, there is no longer any mediation
between citizens and public authorities, it is hard for associations to reach some groups within the population. This divorce between citizens and
public authorities is expressed through protest and criticism, and the democratic political structure shows very clear signs of degeneration.
This project is in line with a tradition of research and reflection that strives to find possible solutions in renewing the civil society. The project
proposes answers that will make it possible to tackle the above-mentioned problems at various political levels. To achieve this, the project includes three aspects.
The qualitative aspect involves direct analysis of notions present in the public regarding identity, belonging, participation, and expression of
interests. It also describes the limits of the current civil society as seen by the population. The results of the research are used to formulate hypotheses, notably concerning how contact is established with today's citizen, the instruments enabling public authorities, political parties, and the civil society to approach the mediation function, the relationship between participation and transfer of the public authorities' tasks, and the effects of functional and co-ordinated classification of the civil society.
The validity and representativeness of these hypotheses are checked by means of a survey. Furthermore, the research-survey format makes
it possible to study the output, if any, of the civil society in terms of effects on the citizen. To achieve this, we use questions concerning
citizens' knowledge of existing institutions, of proposed society models, of scales for representing Man, interest in politics, and also questions
concerning behaviour models.
To create an interaction with the survey, we conduct a median study of the civil society. This part of the study explores the
programmes of the civil society's major organisations and what they offer, focusing more deeply on how interests are interpreted and how
mediation between them is carried out and checking what exists in the area of citizenship training.
Het maatschappelijk middenveld in Vlaanderen: een onderzoek naar de sociale constructie van democratisch burgerschap
Elchardus, Mark - Huyse, Luc - Hooghe, Marc (red) Brussel: Vubpress, 2000 (PB5681)
Tussen burger en overheid: samenvatting van het onderzoek
Huyse L. - Elchardus M. Brussel: DWTC, 2001 (SP0701)
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